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Ron Chernow

The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance Paperback – Illustrated, January 13, 2010

by Ron Chernow (Author)

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Published to critical acclaim twenty years ago, and now considered a classic, The House of Morgan is the most ambitious history ever written about American finance. It is a rich, panoramic story of four generations of Morgans and the powerful, secretive firms they spawned, ones that would transform the modern financial world. Tracing the trajectory of J. P. Morgan’s empire from its obscure beginnings in Victorian London to the financial crisis of 1987, acclaimed author Ron Chernow paints a fascinating portrait of the family’s private saga and the rarefied world of the American and British elite in which they moved—a world that included Charles Lindbergh, Henry Ford, Franklin Roosevelt, Nancy Astor, and Winston Churchill. A masterpiece of financial history—it was awarded the 1990 National Book Award for Nonfiction and selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 Best Nonfiction Books of the Twentieth Century—The House of Morgan is a compelling account of a remarkable institution and the men who ran it, and an essential book for understanding the money and power behind the major historical events of the last 150 years.

Print length

848 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Grove Press
Publication date

January 13, 2010
Dimensions

6 x 1.75 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

0802144659
ISBN-13

978-0802144652
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Winner of the National Book Award

“As a portrait of finance, politics and the world of avarice and ambition on Wall Street, the book has the movement and tension of an epic novel. It is, quite simply, a tour de force.”—The New York Times Book Review

“As informative and entertaining a history, especially of the period from 1880 to 1930, as this reviewer has ever read . . . Nowhere has our tenuous financial system been better described than by Chernow.”—John Rothchild, Los Angeles Times Book Review

“Chernow deftly mixes biography with economics and explicates arcane matters of high finance with sparkling clarity. . . . A fascinating historical journey from Charles Dickens’ London to Tom Wolfe’s New York.”—David M. Kennedy, The Atlantic Monthly

“An astonishingly detailed and fascinating story of the Morgan banks and the men who have run them. Chernow uses his gift for description to bring out vividly the personalities of his principals.”—Don Keown, San Francisco Chronicle

“Epic . . . Chernow melds deep insights into the life and times of Morgan bankers over 150 years with the flow of world history and the growth of banking and finance. With rich detail and warmth, he brings to life the defunct species of gentleman banker.”—Bill Barnhart, Chicago Tribune

About the Author

RON CHERNOW is the author of six books, including The Warburgs, a history of the German-Jewish Warburg banking family, and the award-winning biographies Alexander Hamilton and Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Grove Press; Illustrated edition (January 13, 2010)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 848 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0802144659
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0802144652
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.4 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.75 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #23,287 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #21 in Banks & Banking (Books)
- #89 in Company Business Profiles (Books)
- #118 in Business Professional's Biographies

Customer Reviews:
821 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		68%
4 star		21%
3 star		8%
2 star		2%
1 star		1%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Daniel N. Copp

The House of Morgan is truly one of the best written and most interesting histories I’ve read

Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2017

Verified Purchase

The House of Morgan is truly one of the best written and most interesting histories I’ve read. The strong secondary subject matter is the economic, political and diplomatic history of the United States (circa 1870 to the late 1980s), which actually takes primary stage for much of the book. Chernow had full access to an historical treasure trove of Morgan documents relating to their dealings with U.S. Presidents, nefarious dictators, various and sundry “robber barons,” the Federal Reserve bank, the Bank of England, Continental and Asian state banks, a wide spectrum of politicians from Japan, China, Europe, Mexico and South America — let alone the United States, Charles Lindberg, and a slew of other unusual personages. At its core, it’s a history of high finance, but Chernow’s mastery weaves what could be dry subject matter into the “movement and tension of an epic novel,” to quote the NY Times.

42 people found this helpful

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Kristin A. Weidenaar

The World of Banking

Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2018

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This wasn’t my favorite of Ron Chernow’s books but it is well researched. There was more detail than I really wanted to know. I loved the other three books I read that he wrote—Hamilton, Washington, and Grant—I highly recommend those. If you want to know all about banking and JP Morgan then this book is worth reading.

20 people found this helpful

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Tree Ponders Leaf

Very valuable, not enjoyable

Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2016

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I must admire Chernow's resolve to research his subjects so thoroughly. This was my second go-around after Titan. These books have tremendous value as insight into the times and thoughts of the world's first Corporate Titans. However, both books, but this one in particular is tremendously difficult to read. I find myself labouring through each chapter, midway through and not enjoying the experience. I look back and have learned a great deal, but it was an incredible pain to get there.

31 people found this helpful

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Tzvika Barenholz

the good parts are great

Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2017

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The book is fascinating and has aged well (written ±30 years ago!). The parts that cover the 19th century through about world war II are fascinating and unmissable. The latter parts towards the end of the book, seem to be written out of necessity because the book had to cover the whole history of the bank. I believe a later more experience Chernow would have had the wisdom to stop earlier and make a more compact book.
As it stands, the good parts are great, for their context about how massively powerful Morgan was, and the beautiful historical anecdotes included.

13 people found this helpful

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George

More like a diary than a history of Morgan's role and significance

Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2021

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It is telling that I have learned more about the role JP Morgan played in the development of the industrial economy from TV documentaries. For example, this book fails to describe the disagreement between JP and his father over supporting the development of new technologies such as electricity. JP understood the industrial revolution and the importance of electricity, steel, railroads, and other key industrial industries. A recent TV documentary described how, over his father's objection, Morgan financed Edison then enforced patents against Tesla to create General Electric. Basically, Morgan cobbled together the industrial economy while his father thought the Morgan bank should only finance governments and other established interests. That should be the central theme of the book. Instead it mentions but does not really describe in any depth how the development of many key industries was initially chaotic and unstable. People like Morgan saw the opportunity to buy the weakened companies and combine them to end the price wars, overcharging and other destructive competitive practices inhibiting the development of these and other industries. In effect, Morgan made his fortune and reputation acting as the first regulator. The flaw in the plan was that he proved the need for regulation but the public soon realized that regulation was a role for government, not bankers, leading to busting the trusts. Without delving more into this history the book is mostly just a list of wives and houses and art collections. Meh.

Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2020

Verified Purchase

if you are interested in high finance in the 19th and 20th century this book is a treasure. i had no idea how important this bank was. i was investigating the financing of ww 1 and i found what i was looking for. i read every so often how the american jew bankers used their influence to entangle the u. s. in that war on the side of the allied powers but not true. they were pro german and tried to prevent help for england. there are many events to learn about. i hope you like the book as much as i do.

3 people found this helpful

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NEdwards

Wishing for an Update

Reviewed in the United States on July 1, 2014

Verified Purchase

a long book and a very interesting and helpful one from the aspect of understanding how world politics and events were shaped by the financial side - especially the influence of one dominant family - and a dominant person within that family.

As all Chernow books, well researched and reasoned. My favorite of his: Titan - the John D. Rockefeller biography. Clearly he has a financial penchant.

The book stops in the late 80's - so you can only wish for an updated view of the merger with Chase Bank and the role of the bank in the Great Recession and its current compliance problems. Ron, how about an update??

23 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Robert ‘Bob’ Macespera

A very good book, even if its subject fails us half way

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 29, 2019

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This is a very good book which deals with one of the most interesting periods of history: how the United States changed in the last 25 years of the XIX Century to become the industrial and financial centre of the world. It was the time of the "private bankers", of creation of fortunes, of yatchs and expeditions to Egypt, of houses with 140 rooms, of family dinasties, of bankers subject to "gentlemen codes", of names that became associated (forever) with money and power - Rockefeller, Vandebilt, Carnegie and, of course, Morgan.
The first two thirds of the book tell the history of the Anglo-American bank and how power shifted slowly yet unstoppably from London to New York. It is the story of the two Morgans: Pierpont and his son Jack. This is by far the core of the book and the best of it. It is a fascinating story leading the reader through the days when the rules where made to cope with the progress and the accumulation of wealth. This is the time of the trains and steel industries, of buildings and investments of a size not conceived, let alone tried, only a mere two decades before. It was the classic age of capitalism and New York was its Athens.
The last third of the book, roughly after the death of Jack Morgan and the end of WWII is far less interesting. The bank becomes only one more in an ocean of entities and the Directors are now mere plebeians who must compete fiercely for a piece of the market. The Guinness scandal in the 1980s is only a sad epitaph for an era long gone.
The book's prose is very good and, even at 700 plus pages, it grasps us and doesn't seem that long. In some parts we want to get deeper. However, towards the end it is boring because we do not care anymore. The Morgans are gone and other names and people we neither know nor care step in. Then come the merges, the globalisation and another Century.
The bank is still big, the aura is long gone. There's virtually nothing to tell.

2 people found this helpful

na

10/10 Book. The writing style is amazing.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 6, 2016

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This book is in my top 10 books ever read. It will most definitely remain in there, I cannot recommend this book enough. However, prepare yourself for a long read, it is very dense and slow to grasp. But all in all 10/10

One person found this helpful

Francis Charters

A good read.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 20, 2016

Verified Purchase

This book has been very well researched . It is what it says on the title, all about the whole banking house of Morgan which today is Morgan Stanley banking. A good read.

One person found this helpful

Christian

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 14, 2018

Verified Purchase

Great read can be heavy at times but absolutely fascinating. Incredible just how much power these lot held

2 people found this helpful

BroncoWarrior

Excellent

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 5, 2015

Verified Purchase

This book is superb if you have any interest in financial history. A lot of what happened in the early 20th century mimics the howlers of banks during the crisis. Brilliantly written.

One person found this helpful